Dumping-car.



. R. DAVENPORT.

DUMPING GAR Patented July 5, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

R. DAVENPORT. DUMPING OAR.

FILED Patented July 5, 1910.

2 8HEET B8HBET 2.

RALPH ioAvENronr, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DUMPING-CAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 16, 1909.

Patented July 5, 1910. Serial No. 490,287.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RALPH DAVENPORT, a citizen of the United States,residing at the city of Chicago, State of Illinois, have invented acertain new and useful Dumping- Car, of which the following is such afull, clear, and eXact description as will enable any one skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relatesto a dumping car, and more particularly to thatclass of dumping cars known as drop-bottom dumping cars.

The object of my invention is to provide a car of the class referred toin which the operating mechanism will be as simple as possible and atthe same time strong and durable.

Another object of my invention is to provide operating mechanism suchthat the door will be locked in its closed position by its own weightirrespective of the locking of the operating mechanism.

I11 the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one form of car made inaccordance with my invention, Figure 1 is a vertical cross-section; Fig.2 isa side elevation of a portion of the car; Fig. 3 is an enlargedsectional view through one side of the car showing the door partiallyopen and Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged views showing details ofconstruction.

Like marks of reference refer to similar parts in the several views ofthe drawings.

10 represents the body of the car.

11 is the longitudinal portion and 12 the cross members of the carunder-frame.

13 are the doors which form the drop-bottom of the car. These doors 13are pivoted to the longitudinal portion 11 of the underframe at 14, asshown in Fig. 1. The doors 13 project beyond the cross members 12 of theunder-frame and the ends of the doors at each side are connected bymeans of a carrying member 15.

Arranged under the sides of the car body 10 are journal irons 16. Thesejournal irons 16 receive retaining members 17 to which are bolted theside stakes 18 of the car by means of bolts 19. These retaining members17 also serve as bearings for the operating shafts 20, one of which isarranged at each side of the car, as best shown in Fig. 1.

Arranged between each pair of side stakes 18 is a drum 21 which isrigidly secured to the operating shaft 20. Each of the drums 21 isprovided with a spiral groove 22 which receives the chain 23, one end ofwhich is secured to the drum and the other to a hookshaped member 24which is pivoted by means of a strap 25 to the carrying member 15hereinbefore described. The chain 23 is attached to the under face ofthe hook 24 and the said hook is formed with a groove 26 so that thechain 23 lies in the two grooves, as shown at Fig. 4, when the hook isin position to engage the drum. The drum 21 is pro-' vided with a hub 27and the hook 24 is provided with a flange 28 adapted to take over thehub 27, as shown best in Fig. 5, so as to lock the door in its closedposition by means of gravity. It will thus be evident that the door willbe retained in its closed position against the weight on it withoutregard to whether or not the operating shaft 20 is locked. the drum 21the hub 27 is provided with a projection or lug 29 adapted to strikeagainst the flange 28 when the shaft 20 is rotated in a directionopposite to that indicated by the arrow in Fig. 5 and thus disengage thehook from the drum.

The operation of my car will be evident from the above description. Whenthe hooks 24 are in the position shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, thedoor will be firmly locked in position without regard to whether or notthe shaft 20 is locked. When it is desired to open the doors todischarge the contents of the car, the shafts 20 are rotated by anysuitable mechanism which is not shown as it forms no part of myinvention. The lugs 29 will thus release the hooks 24 from the drums 21so that the doors will be free to fall down into the position shown onthe right hand side of Fig. 1. To restore the doors to their normalposition it is only necessary to rotate the shafts in the directionshown by the arrow in Fig. 5 until the hook 24 engages with the drum 21so as to lock the door.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a dumping car, the combination with a car body provided with crossbeams, of a door in the floor of said car extending beyond the crossbeams, an operating shaft, a hook secured to said door at a point beyond the end of said cross beams, said hook being adapted to engage withsaid shaft to In order to release the hook 24 from lock the door, and aflexible connection between said shaft and hook.

2. In a dumping car, the combination with a car body, of a plurality ofdoors therefor pivoted at their inner edges, said doors extending beyondthe cross members of the car underframe, a carrying member continuousthroughout the length of a plurality of doors and secured thereto beyondsaid cross-members, and operating means for said carrying member.

3. In a dumping car, the combination with a car body provided with crossbeams, of a plurality of doors in the floor of said car extending beyondthe cross beams, a carrying member continuous throughout the length of aplurality of doors and secured thereto beyond said cross beams, a hooksecured to said carrying member at a point between the edges of twoadjacent doors, an operating shaft with which said hook is adapted toengage, and a flexible connection between said shaft and hook.

4. In a dumping car, the combination with a car body provided with crossbeams, of a plurality of doors in the floor of said car extending beyondthe cross beams, a carrying member continuous throu hout the length of aplurality of doors and secured thereto beyond said cross beams, a hooksecured to said carrying member opposite the end of one of said crossbeams, an operating shaft with which said hook is adapted to engage, anda flexible connection between said shaft and hook.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and aflixed my seal inthe presence of the two subscribing witnesses.

RALPH DAVENPORT. [n s] lVitnesses:

G. H. BLACKMAN, A. F. GEORGE.

